Nico Hischier produced two goals and an assist as the New Jersey Devils defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 at Prudential Center on Saturday. New Jersey converted three times on the power play to secure the home victory.
Vancouver opened the scoring on the power play at 5:27 of the first period when Linus Karlsson beat Jake Allen with a snap shot for his first goal of the season, assisted by Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk. New Jersey responded quickly on an advantage of its own at 8:03, as Hischier scored his first goal of the season on a wrist shot set up by Arseny Gritsyuk and Luke Hughes. Jesper Boqvist gave the Devils a 2-1 lead at 16:24 of the frame, scoring at even strength with a wrist shot off an assist from Amadeus Lombardi.
The Devils extended their lead with two more power-play tallies in the second period. Jesper Bratt scored his first goal of the season at 4:36 with a wrist shot, assisted by Hischier and Jack Hughes. Just ten seconds before the second intermission, Hischier collected his second goal of the game and third point of the day on a snap shot from Hughes and Bratt to make it 4-1.
Allen stopped 20 of 21 shots to earn the win in net for the Devils. Vancouver used two goaltenders, as Leevi Merilainen made 31 saves on 34 shots, while Kevin Lankinen took the loss after stopping two of three shots. New Jersey went 3-for-4 on the power play and outshot Vancouver 37-21, while the Canucks finished 1-for-3 with the man advantage.
The victory leveled New Jersey's regular-season record at 2-2-0. Vancouver dropped to 2-4-0 on the season and has now gone winless in three consecutive games.
Both teams return to the ice on Tuesday, October 20. The Devils will host the Colorado Avalanche, while the Canucks return home to host the Carolina Hurricanes.
